A Young Woman's Heart

Even the soft, fluffy, and adorable clouds on the horizon appeared hideous.

"Hello." Finally, a familiar voice rang in his ears.

Turning my head, I saw Lu Chengyuan's big, round face.

"Why are you so late?" He shook his right leg, his brows furrowed, and took a half-step back, clearly displeased.

"What's wrong? You look so disgusted."

"They're so unpunctual! Do they know how long I've been waiting here? It's so annoying, and it's so hot outside," he couldn't help but complain.

"What?! Didn't I say I was going to the hospital?"

"Didn't you say forty-five minutes? I waited at home until almost that time before coming out."

"Then you shouldn't come to the hospital to find me!"

I called you before I left, and you told me to wait at the door, didn't you?

"I was just afraid you'd be unhappy, okay?"

"Then why did it take you so long?"

"You were delayed at the hospital. It wasn't even that certain to begin with. Other people go to the hospital for treatment, and you can't even come to see me! How dare you say that!"

"Couldn't you just say so directly? Make me wait at the hospital? You're really something." Lu Bolun scratched his ear and said irritably, "What a waste of time. We left around noon, and it's already past two o'clock. What's fun about that now? The day is over!"

"Can't you think more about me? If you care about me, you should come to the hospital. I already told you which hospital it is, it's not far!"

"Then just say it directly. Why make people guess? What's the point of guessing all this time?"

Lu Chengyuan stomped her foot in anger, tears welling up in her eyes: "Fine, then I won't guess anymore, and I won't play today either."

"I can't be bothered to talk to you, it's so hot, I'd rather stay home and watch TV!" Lu Bolun retorted, not to be outdone.

The two turned their heads and walked to opposite sides.

When Lü Bolun turned around, Lu Chengyuan was nowhere to be seen.

He gritted his teeth in anger: "Really leaving? You, Lu Chengyuan..."

Several children came to the small square where pigeons are fed. They pooled their pocket money and bought a bag of corn kernels, which they were feeding the pigeons little by little.

The pigeons that had been surrounding him earlier have all now flown away from him.

After all, he had no food left.

This made Luberon feel somewhat dejected.

People often fail to understand each other, especially women, who often think men have it easy—and so do women.

He felt a bit down.

It wasn't pure anger, but rather a kind of inexplicable frustration.

Along the West Lake, the lotus flowers are in full bloom, their pink petals carrying a faint fragrance, but mostly the smell of sweat from the tourists on the shore.

The sky wasn't a single, uniform jewel-like blue, but rather a blue with layers of depth.

The clouds in the distance are whitish, while those closer are tinged with a faint blue. The clouds are all gathered above his head, which seems to be the center of the sky, a deep blue with a hint of purple, as if night is about to fall.

It's summer now.

It was two or three o'clock, still a long way from evening.

It might rain.

But there were no dark clouds in sight.

Lu Bolun scratched his head, suddenly regretting his impulsive decision.

He hesitated for a moment, but still didn't take a step back.

A dark cloud was gathering overhead, drifting silently in from afar.

By the time he realized it, there were hardly any people left by West Lake.

Pedestrians seemed to have anticipated this and sought shelter under the trees from the rain.

The musical fountain, which had been playing just moments before, has stopped.

"Boom!" The thunderclap startled him, making him shrink back.

Then, I felt the rain pouring down.

It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of water directly on his head.

But her hair wasn't wet.

Lu Bolun turned his head with some confusion and saw Lu Chengyuan holding a parasol to shield him from the rain, while half of her own shoulder was almost soaked.

"Hmph." She glared at him.

“Uh…” Lu Bolun hesitated for a moment, but still took her hand that was gripping the umbrella handle and pulled her over.

The two stood close together, just like usual.

The rain pattered heavily on the umbrella, as if it were hail.

"I didn't mean to be late..." Lu Chengyuan bit her lip and gently bumped her head against his arm.

Although he didn't say the words "I'm sorry," he was actually not far off from it.

"Uh, oh." Lu Bolun scratched his head, managing to utter only two words after a long pause.

Feeling light and airy, all the anger I felt earlier dissipated.

Lu Chengyuan moved even closer, gently taking his arm and pressing her chest against his, perhaps to make up for his long two-hour wait.

Their heartbeats seemed to be in sync.

"Ah, West Lake is quite beautiful even in the rain."

"Ah."

"If you did better on your exam, we could go to the beach together."

"What do you mean 'play'? That's teaching in rural areas, it's very tiring."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I called Lele earlier, and she complained to me about it."

"Tsk, it's a good thing you didn't go. Thank goodness you didn't do well on the exam."

"Ugh—you talk like you did so well on the exam!" Lu Chengyuan angrily bumped her forehead against his head. "With this heavy rain, it looks like we can't go shopping."

"This torrential rain should clear up soon..."

As they were talking, the rain suddenly stopped, like a tap that had been turned on.

The dark clouds in the sky seemed to have been torn apart by a giant hand, and quickly dispersed.

The sun still shone brightly overhead, as if the rain had never fallen at all.

"You're late today, you have to make it up to me."

"Then what do you want?"

"Have a late-night snack with me tonight!"

"Do we have to drink a penalty shot?"

"Sure." Lu Bolun didn't dare to meet Lu Chengyuan's narrowed eyes and gave an awkward smile. "Ah, beer is fine."

"Okay, I can keep you company. Fried chicken and beer sounds great."

"Right... I'm actually kind of hoping tonight comes soon."

"No, we agreed to stroll around West Lake, let's go take a boat!" Lu Chengyuan stuffed a banknote into his hand, "Twenty yuan, we'll split the boat fare, um... I wonder how many hours we'll be on the boat."

"Oh, I'll pay."

“No, it’s not like you invited me. We made plans to go out together, so of course we have to split it 50/50.” Lu Chengyuan took out her small, fluffy but somewhat rough wallet that she had made. “Here, all the money I’m planning to spend today is in here. My budget is fifty yuan, except for change for transportation.”

"I brought two hundred with me."

"Where did so many come from?"

"Hey, I saved it myself."

"Wow, I can't even save that many."

"Hey, aren't girls better at saving money?"

"Tch, who told you that? Girls want to buy all sorts of things... cough um, anyway, I'm not the kind of person who can save money."

"Haha, that's why I'm treating."

"No, I won't play if you're treating." Lu Chengyuan flicked his forehead and said, pretending to be angry.

"Okay, okay, I guess we'll only play for two or three hours?"

"As long as I can play for more than an hour, that's fine." Lu Chengyuan stretched her hand out of the umbrella, and after confirming that it wasn't raining, she put it away and handed the wet umbrella to him. "Here, take this."

"Huh? I'll take it."

"Yeah, I want to relax a bit."

"You're quite impolite, aren't you?"

"What? Do couples have to be so polite with each other?"

"Then why are you being so polite with me?"

“Treating someone to a meal is different from this.” She put her hands on her hips. “If we get married, you can voluntarily hand over your salary to me first.”

"That won't do, you don't know how to save money, do you?"

"Humph."

"Hahaha, I'll pay, I'll pay! I'll pay, okay?!"

……

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Before the Exam